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Former Republican Congressman Bill Thomas, who capped a 28-year House career as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, has been out of Congress for more than a decade. His name is no longer familiar outside of his Bakersfield base. But two of his protégés are very well known – House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who served as Thomas’ district director, and Oversight Committee Chair Devin Nunes, who Thomas encouraged to run for Congress and who nurtured his career after he got there.
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Will you (OK, your grandchildren) someday take a vacation jaunt to Mars? Or maybe move there permanently? You will if California’s 0utside-the-box-thinker Elon Musk and his competitors have their way. Non-passenger commercial space activity is already big business. Musk’s SpaceX company launches satellites into orbit, charging commercial customers $62 million per launch to as much as $20 million more for more complicated tasks, such as resupplying the International Space Station.
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Watergate sellers started raising prices on their apartments within days of the election. A two-bedroom duplex that had been on the market for nearly a year at $325,000 was relisted at $350,000. The owner of a one-bedroom apartment put his unit up for sale five days after the election at $300,000. “That’s about $100,000 more than one-bedrooms sell for,” scoffed a real estate agent. “He’s just trying to make a killing.”
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A relatively obscure stem cell scientist last week one-upped — sort of — one of the more powerful lawmakers in the United States Senate. It was not a direct, head-to-head contest — just sort of a rough comparison involving Democratic politics in California.
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By the time today’s infants are in their early 30s, gasoline-powered cars that aren’t electric hybrids could be a rarity in California. That’s the goal of California policy makers who are doing their best to phase those cars out by 2050 and replace them with zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
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Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, a first-term lawmaker, is among the most prominent figures in the California Capitol working to combat sexual harassment. She’s not only become the Legislature’s de facto point person on sexual misconduct, but also responsible for reshaping the current harassment-reporting process that many say has failed victims.
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The Republican side of the governor’s race has become an interesting contest to watch because, if for no other reason, of the way these candidates are trying to differentiate themselves before the June primary election. A debate in San Francisco led moderator John Diaz from the Chronicle to exclaim “This is the first time in San Francisco I have heard an argument among people about who most supports Donald Trump!”
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Chantal Cousineau said the disclosures started like a whisper. Over the years, she had discussed her experience working with James Toback on the film “Harvard Man” in 2000. But this fall, after allegations about producer Harvey Weinstein emerged, Cousineau sent a tweet: “Can we talk about #JamesToback next?”
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From housing to college, Californians are complaining about affordability. As parents and students grapple with their future, many are looking towards alternatives to the typical four-year degree. Many are focusing more on careers, jobs, benefits, and steady careers that fulfill their interests.
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A funding gap between Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2018-19 budget and the draft spending plan of the California State University may lead to a tuition increase for CSU students, including those at Sacramento State. CSU students across the state would face a 4 percent tuition increase, or $228 per semester, totaling $5,970 for the 2018-19 academic year.
Former Congressman Bill Thomas at a political event in Bakersfield. <(Photo: Screen capture, YouTube.)
